Francisco Govinho Lima (born 17 April 1971) is a Brazilian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Lima generally played as a

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

or central midfielder but on several occasions he was also employed as a

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

He played for

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in 1996, and played for

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matc ...

between 1996 and 1998. He then played for

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

between 1998 and 2000, and joined

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

team

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

during 1999–2000. One year later, he transferred to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, and impressed

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

enough to win a move to them in 2001. Roma paid Bologna 13 billion

Italian lire The lira ( , ; : lire, , ) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually fo ...

. He signed a 3-year contract and earned an average of 3.7 billion lire annually before tax. He stayed in the capital for three seasons. At the age of 33, he went northward to

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

. In January 2006, he was loaned to

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club () is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 with the merger of two Qatari football clubs, Al-Oruba and Al-Nasour. They ...

, until the summer. He signed for

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

in a free transfer during the second half of the Russian season. He then joined

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

in January 2007, and later the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

in July 2008. However, he left them in January 2009 to move back to Italy to join

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

. In January 2010, Lima returned to Brazil for Nacional (AM). In the same year he played for Rio Negro (AM), another club based on his hometown. He last played for São Raimundo (AM), another

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

based club before retiring at the age of 40. He worked as director of football at Nacional (AM) before coming out of retirement and signing for Fast Clube to play the 2016 Copa Verde as a centre back with

2006 FIFA Club World Cup The 2006 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2006 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament held in Japan between 10 and 17 December 2006. It was the third FIFA Club World Cup. The c ...

winner Ediglê.

Honours

;Ferroviário (CE) *

Campeonato Cearense The Campeonato Cearense is the professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Ceará. It is run by the Ceará Football Federation (FCF). In over a hundred years of competition, only 11 clubs have won the title. List of champio ...

: 1994 ;Roma *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

References

External links

Profile at Brescia Calcio official website
* * * 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Manaus Footballers from Amazonas (Brazilian state) Afro-Brazilian sportspeople Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers AS Roma players Bologna FC 1909 players FC Dynamo Moscow players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players São Paulo FC players US Lecce players Gaziantepspor footballers Grasshopper Club Zurich players FC Zürich players Brescia Calcio players San Jose Earthquakes players Qatar SC players Taranto FC 1927 players Süper Lig players Serie A players Serie B players Russian Premier League players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football midfielders São Raimundo Esporte Clube (AM) footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States {{Brazil-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub